Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 27 To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act to direct district attorney and prosecutors offices to report to the Attorney General, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 2023 Ms. MALLIOTAKIS (for herself, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Ms. STEFANIK, Ms. VAN DUYNE, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana, Mr. FITZ- GERALD, Mr. TIFFANY, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. ISSA, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. CALVERT, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania, Mrs. SPARTZ, Mr. WEBSTER of Florida, Mrs. CAMMACK, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mrs. GREENE of Georgia, and Mr. MOYLAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act to direct district attorney and prosecutors offices to report to the Attorney General, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prosecutors Need to 4 Prosecute Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Jan 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H27.IH H27 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 27 IH SEC. 2. DISTRICT ATTORNEY REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 1 FOR BYRNE GRANTS. 2 Section 501 of subpart 1 of part E of title I of the 3 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 4 U.S.C. 10151) is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as 6 subsections (h) and (i), respectively; and 7 (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol- 8 lowing: 9 ‘‘(g) DISTRICT ATTORNEY REPORTING REQUIRE- 10 MENTS.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On an annual basis, each 12 chief executive of a district attorney or prosecutor’s 13 office that serves a jurisdiction of 380,000 or more 14 persons, which jurisdiction receives funds under this 15 part, shall submit to the Attorney General a report 16 that contains, for the previous fiscal year, the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘(A) The total number of cases referred to 19 the office for prosecution of a covered offense. 20 ‘‘(B) The number of cases such office de- 21 clined to prosecute involving a covered offense. 22 ‘‘(C) For cases involving a covered offense 23 that resulted in a plea agreement reached with 24 the defendant— 25 ‘‘(i) the total number of such cases; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:44 Jan 10, 2023 Jkt 009200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H27.IH H27 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 27 IH ‘‘(ii) the number of such cases by each 1 initial charge; and 2 ‘‘(iii) the number of such cases by 3 each charge of conviction. 4 ‘‘(D) The number of cases involving cov- 5 ered offenses initiated against a defendant— 6 ‘‘(i) previously arrested for a covered 7 offense arising out of separate conduct; 8 ‘‘(ii) previously convicted for a covered 9 offense arising out of separate conduct; 10 ‘‘(iii) with an open case involving a 11 covered offense arising out of separate con- 12 duct; 13 ‘‘(iv) serving a term of probation for 14 a conviction for a covered offense arising 15 out of separate conduct; and 16 ‘‘(v) released on parole for a convic- 17 tion for a covered offense arising out of 18 separate conduct. 19 ‘‘(E) The number of defendants charged 20 with a covered offense— 21 ‘‘(i) who were released on their own 22 recognizance; 23 ‘‘(ii) who were eligible for bail; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Jan 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H27.IH H27 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 27 IH ‘‘(iii) for whom the prosecutor re- 1 quested bail. 2 ‘‘(2) UNIFORM STANDARDS.—The Attorney 3 General shall define uniform standards for the re- 4 porting of the information required under this sub- 5 section, including the form such reports shall take 6 and the process by which such reports shall be 7 shared with the Attorney General. 8 ‘‘(3) SUBMISSION TO JUDICIARY COMMIT- 9 TEES.—The Attorney General shall submit the infor- 10 mation received under this subsection to the Com- 11 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Com- 12 mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa- 13 tives and shall publish such information on a pub- 14 licly viewable website. 15 ‘‘(4) COVERED OFFENSE DEFINED.—In this 16 subsection, the term ‘covered offense’ means any of 17 the following: 18 ‘‘(A) Murder or non-negligent man- 19 slaughter. 20 ‘‘(B) Forcible rape. 21 ‘‘(C) Robbery. 22 ‘‘(D) Aggravated assault. 23 ‘‘(E) Burglary. 24 ‘‘(F) Larceny. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Jan 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H27.IH H27 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 27 IH ‘‘(G) Motor vehicle theft. 1 ‘‘(H) Arson. 2 ‘‘(I) Any offense involving the illegal use of 3 a firearm. 4 ‘‘(J) Any offense involving the illegal pos- 5 session of a firearm.’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Jan 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H27.IH H27 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS